Monday, September 28, 2009

We got back from Kauai on Saturday morning after flying all night. Had an absolutely fabulous time. Everything was perfect. Saw a few thrift stores, but I had no desire to stop and look. Need to get my pictures sorted and I will show you some of the things we saw and did. Until then, I'll leave you with this picture of the beautiful Waimea Canyon.

Have a good Monday! I'll be heading to both Monticello and Stars and Splendid today to do a little clean up, switcheroo, etc. The Fall Premier Show is over so I need to see what is left and figure out where it will all go. Be back soon.

Friday, September 18, 2009

For the past few years I've been keeping my eyes out for a pair of cute vintage bar stools for my home. I already had a couple of cute wood stools that we inherited from my husband's parents. The only problem was that I wanted to find some that had backs and were a little more comfortable and of course, cute and vintage.

Last summer I came close to finding my dream bar stools when I was walking around at the Portland Expo. I happened on the perfect pair of wrought iron ice cream parlor type bar stools with green velvet backs and seats. They were exactly what I was looking for, but unfortunately they had sold just 15 minutes before I saw them. (Insert sad face here)

After checking out craigslist more times than I care to admit, and searching at every antique show I went to (and I go to a lot of them), I was beginning to feel like I would never find the perfect stools. That is until last Sunday before the Coburg Antique Show when I wandered over to ask Sue if she had a band aid for a blister on my little toe (tmi?) and I saw them. They were perfect and I told her I wanted them before I even looked at the price. Some things you just have to have, and I had to have these. Here they are in their new home; my kitchen.I love everything about them. They are the perfect size, perfect color, perfect chippiness, etc. Sue told me that she had got them for their future home they were going to build, but that she decided to part with them as she didn't see them building in the near future. Her loss was definitely my gain. Did I mention that I love these bar stools? Because they are wrought iron and my floors are wood, I knew I needed to get a little rug to go under them. I found this one at Target on clearance and I love it. It has a rubber back so it won't be sliding around. Getting these bar stools has made me motivated to finish my kitchen makeover plans. I have a few things I'd like to do in there and when I finally get around to completing it, I will definitely post some pictures.

My hubby and I are heading out tomorrow for a long awaited and much needed vacation alone in Kauai. I can hardly believe we will be there tomorrow night. Long story short, our very generous neighbor gave us his time share for the week and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. My dearest in-laws will be coming over tomorrow to stay with the kids while we are away.

So, I will be taking a little break from blogging, but will be back with lots of fun pictures. In the meantime, here is a little something I picked up at Stars & Splendid out of Melanie's booth. I love it! Perfect for a little corner in my bedroom. Have a great weekend and week, I'll be back soon!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I apologize if you've been coming here expecting a new post only to find that picture of my kids on their first day of school staring at you. It has been one busy week, I tell you. Last Sunday was the Coburg Antique Fair and despite a few problems with traffic and a little rain, we had a great sale.

Here we are in front of our booth. Don't we look happy and ready to sell? (Picture borrowed from Isabel.)

I spent a good part of last week working on some projects so I would have some new things for the show. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the things I worked on, but I did get a picture of the newest shopping cart trio.

I thought these turned out pretty cute. (I think I say that with all of my carts.) The one on the left is the only one I still have. The other two sold to two happy customers.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Today's the day both of my kids go back to school. It is our tradition to take a picture of them on the first day. Some day I'll have find all of them and put together some kind of album. Here is today's picture. My blue-haired girl is going to be a sophomore and my rocker boy is going into 8th grade. They are growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. When they were younger I was always eager for the first day of school to come, but as they have gotten older, it just reminds me how quickly time is going by. I'll miss having them around all day. This is the first summer that my daughter has tagged along with me on my thrifting outings. It has been a lot of fun having her along.

On Sunday, Isabel and I went to our favorite monthly flea market. We both managed to find several treasures and spend all of our money. Here is what I found at the flea.

I have been busy this week with back to school preparations, and trying to get myself motivated to work on projects to take to the Coburg Antique Fair this weekend. Today I worked on a couple shopping cart liners and have been making lists of what I will be taking with me. We will be in the "fine arts" area as we not only have vintage/antique items, but items that have been repurposed or made over. This is a really fun show. Lots of dealers including Joy, Martha, Diane, Sue, and Cindy will be there. I'm not sure if Colby Cottage will be there or not as they are in the midst of getting their new store ready to open in Eugene.

I want to take this opportunity to send out a very belated thank you to Connie at Big Bear Lake. She was kind enough to honor me with the "A Lovely Blog Award" several weeks ago and I keep forgetting to thank her. So Connie, thank you so much. You are too sweet! Look, there are pink roses on the picture. So me!

That's it for now! Heading over to Stars & Splendid to pick up a few things to take to Coburg. Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

This morning I took my girl to the eye doctor and after that, we decided to hit a few thrift stores. Right now I'm feeling a little pressure with everything I have going on and I should have been at home working on projects. I've been feeling like I'm spread a little thin right now with my booths at Monticello and Stars & Splendid, not to mention the Fall Premier Sale booth at Monticello Isabel and I are sharing and the Coburg Antique Fair coming up next weekend. Oh, did I mention, I'm trying to get the kids ready for going back to school next week too.

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I know that lots of you out there have very full plates right now too. My biggest dilemma is I don't feel like I have enough stuff to make a good showing at all the places I'm selling at. That's right, you heard me. Not enough stuff. Another dilemma I have is do I stay at home and work on what I have, or do I go out and try to find stuff that is ready to go? The second one is more fun, but you never know what, if anything, you might find. I'm so glad I chose that one today because this is what I came home with.

I love the little mini dresser on wheels. It only needed a little sanding and tightening the glass knobs that it already had on it! Yeah! I love finds like this. The little four drawer dresser on top had "Bozo the Clown" decals on every drawer. If you are old like me, you probably remember Bozo. The decals while kind of cool and definitely vintage, were a little creepy. I just sanded them off, gave the knobs a little spray paint and it was also good to go. The mirrored medicine cabinet just needed a little cleaning. I love the long skinny mirror and the barkcloth has beautiful fallish colors. On top of the little dresser is a glass and metal display thingy. I think you are suppose to put candles in it, but I think you could use it as a little display cabinet and put some of your favorite goodies inside.

This table was a curbside find. It didn't look like this though. The top was painted white and it had lots of colorful pictures painted on it by a child. Not real cute. I attacked it with some chemical stripper and I love this distressed look. It would be really easy to paint it, but I'm going to leave it as is.

Tomorrow I will be heading back to Monticello for the Fall Premier Sale you have heard me and many others go on and on about. From what I saw on Tuesday, you will definitely not want to miss this one if you are in the area. Lots and lots of great finds the dealers have saved just for this show. I'll be wearing one of my new vintage dresses. (It's pink and white check so if you see me in it, stop me and say hi). Hope you come out for a fun shopping time!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Last week my girl and I went to fluff up my Stars & Splendid booth. Seems I've been doing pretty well there, which I'm thrilled about, of course. I finally remembered to take my camera so I thought I would share some pictures with you.

On Sunday, Isabel and I got up early and headed over to the Oregon City Antique Fair. We have sold at this fair the last three years, but decided to take a break from selling at it this year. It was fun to see some of our friends there and laughing with Joy, Joe and Jermonnewas definitely the best part of the show for me. I didn't buy a lot, but here's what I got.

Two vintage slips, a letter "V" (will be painted white and added to the L, and O that I already found. Still looking for an "E"), adorable flower bracelet, three pins and a vintage rhinestone barrette.

Later on Sunday, the family plus BIL Matt and daughter's boyfriend, went to the State Fair. My favorite part of the fair has to be the food. The ice cream at the Dairy Women's Barn is a must have. We did a lot of walking, listening to music, looking at displays, animals, etc. I didn't take one picture. It was hot, I was tired, I forgot.

On a recent post I showed you a couple vintage dresses that I found at an estate sale. While shopping with my daughter a couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to find three more vintage dresses that actually fit me. Yeah! I love vintage fifties style dresses, but they are usually so very tiny and unfortunately, I am not. Here is one of my new cute dresses. Not the best picture of me, but I love this dress. It's very light weight and summery. I'll have to show you my other dresses on another post.

Today Isabel and I are setting up our booth at Monticello for the "Fall Premier Sale." I am taking lots of new (old) items. I can't wait to see what Isabel will be bringing. The Sale starts on Friday the 4th and there will be lots of great stuff from Monticello dealers and some great guest dealers as well. Hope you can make it!